


Beltless

by zarahjoyce



Series: Fifteen Fluffs [3]
Category: Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 11:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2268498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarahjoyce/pseuds/zarahjoyce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Really, in their group, the two of them were basically cannon fodder, because their names so happened to be Chucky and Peko, not Mai and Kaito.” Fifteen truths about Peko and Chucky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beltless

1\. He didn’t know her name. He hadn’t been aware of her even when they were dancing, even when their groups were at each other’s throats. But it wasn’t his fault, he reasoned - she rarely ever spoke, and her presence was easily dwarfed by Mai Takatsukasa’s. It wasn’t any wonder most people would refer to her not by name, but by “ _that Gaim girl who isn’t Mai.”_  
  
2\. She, on the other hand, knew him only because he employed dirty tricks with his slingshot. He wasn’t even that good of a dancer, she thought - he was in Team Baron only because, for some reason, he was able to stay in Kaito Kumon’s good graces. It was better to be unmemorable and forgotten than to be remembered only through sheer underhandedness and rotten deeds, she’d tell him - if he asked.

(He didn’t.)  
  
3\. They rarely spoke, rarely acknowledged each other, rarely referred to the other specifically. Gaim’s and Baron’s worlds were intertwined, but his and hers, blissfully, were not.  
  
4\. Then the world they thought they knew was thrown askew, and nothing was ever the same again.  
  
5\. His first solo encounter with her was quite awkward, truth be told. There was an intense discussion going on in the garage, and opinions were being voiced out and shot down and he had no idea what to do but he knew he _needed_ to relieve himself, and so he stepped backwards and disappeared from the group and no one noticed. He was about to barge into the bathroom when he thought he heard soft, mewling sounds; he was about to open his mouth when the door swung suddenly and he stood face-to-face with _her,_ that Gaim-girl-who-wasn’t-Mai.  
  
6\. Her eyes were wet and red. Hastily, she wiped at her cheeks and moved away from him, and the sight brought a peculiar weight on his gut.  
  
7\. Later she’d tell him she was crying because others simply weren’t. They all sounded so sure and so confident about what to do when the world was ending and— well, what if they failed? What if they died? They were only human, and young. Some of them were beltless, too. What could they do?  
  
8\. He’d point out that Mai was also beltless, and she’d smile at him and say well, she wasn’t Mai, who had not an iota of powerlessness and fear within her. She’d add that he wasn’t Kaito Kumon, either; he had not the power or the strength to fight. Really, in their group, the two of them were basically cannon fodder, because their names so happened to be _Chucky_ and _Peko_ , not _Mai_ and _Kaito._  
  
9\. He didn’t have anything to say to her after that, because he knew her words to be true. He thought, maybe if he was given a belt like Zack was, then things would change - but he didn’t get one, and so nothing did. She stared at him and wiped at her eyes again, before bidding him goodnight.  
  
10\. When it was his and Mai’s turn to go shopping, he remembered to pick up everything Zack and Kaito told him to. Zack didn’t tell him to buy a handkerchief, though - and yet, he did.  
  
11\. The next thing he knew, his body had turned into a cornucopia of aches and bloody joints that even breathing became an exercise of sheer will. When he opened his eyes, it was to the sight of her tending to his wounds. Her eyes were misty, but she wasn’t crying, and her hands were soft as she tended to him. He was grateful for it.  
  
12\. One day, out of nowhere, she thanked him. Then, laughing and embarrassed, she said that his injuries gave her an excuse to be busy, to have something else to focus on - he basically became her reason to live, and she was grateful for it. It was an odd and quite insensitive thing to say, but his jaw hurts and so he was only able to mumble his indignation. She smiled.  
  
13\. It was eerily quiet when it was just the two of them in the garage, because, due to some reason or the other, the Gaim and Baron members stopped coming to them. Most days were all right; but during nighttime, when the littlest scrapes could mean their impending doom, sleeping could almost be considered a luxury - one that he often gave to her. He’d smile at her and say it’s her prize for taking care of him, then clutch his slingshot, and keep an eye out for both their sakes. Oftentimes he’d wish for his own driver - but one never came.  
  
14\. When news of Mai’s death came to them, she took it the hardest. It was their fault, she said, for trusting Micchy, for being stupid and foolish and _stupid._ Tears ran freely down her cheeks, and there was a peculiar weight in his gut and stinging in his eyes as he stood to get something he’d bought for her earlier. She stared at the handkerchief he offered as though it was an alien concept. He smiled and told her to take it.  
  
15\. Later, when the world was being remade, they’d learn of Kaito’s fate and _he’d_ be the one who would take the news hard. He’d question why it happened and how a person like Kaito would fall that far; why the leader of Team Baron - and most of their friends - were now gone, and yet here they were. She’d not have an answer for that, but she would reach for his hand, and tell him maybe it’s because they _were_ lucky enough to be cannon fodder, and that no one spared a thought for them - and maybe, _maybe,_ that was why they survived. Because their names so happened to be _Chucky_ and _Peko_ , not _Mai_ and _Kaito -_ beltless and powerless they might be, but at least now, they were alive.  
  
And, in the end, wasn’t that all that mattered?


End file.
